Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid said he will seek votes during Congress’s lame-duck session
on proposals to let some children of illegal immigrants gain
legal status and to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the
military.

Both measures were blocked by Senate Republicans in
September when Reid sought to include them in a $726 billion
defense bill. The Nevada Democrat said yesterday he will
introduce the immigration bill separately and bring up the
repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gay service
members as part of the defense bill.

The immigration proposal, called the DREAM Act, would let
illegal immigrants who arrive in the U.S. before age 16 and stay
for at least five years gain permanent residency after they go
to college or serve in the military.

“If there is a bipartisan bill that makes sense for our
country economically, from a national security perspective and
one that reflects American values, it is the DREAM Act,” Reid
said in a statement. “This bill will give children brought
illegally to this country at no fault of their own the chance to
earn legal status.”

The immigration measure was proposed by Senator Richard
Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democratic leader, and Republican
Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana.

Democrats control 59 seats in the Senate, and they will
need Republican support to bring the measure up for debate and
approve it. It takes 60 votes to override delaying tactics by
opponents.

Republicans

Five to seven Republicans would most likely be needed to
push the DREAM Act through the Senate because not all Democrats
support it, said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s
Voice, a Washington group that backs a comprehensive overhaul of
immigration law.

Sharry said his group and other supporters will lobby
Republicans who have shown support for the measure in the past,
as well as those who are retiring. That includes Robert Bennett
of Utah, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and George Voinovich of
Ohio.

The House passed a repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell”
policy in May, and President Barack Obama pledged in his January
2010 State of the Union address to lift the ban.

Still, the administration has fought an effort to repeal
the ban in court, saying the military needs time to put a new
policy in place and that any change should come from Congress.

Law in Effect

The U.S. Supreme Court last week let stand an appeals court
decision to let the law stay in effect during a lawsuit seeking
to invalidate it.

The Defense Department is scheduled to release a study on
the issue in early December. The Washington Post and other news
organizations, citing unidentified sources, reported last week
that the study group determined that lifting the ban would pose
minimal risk of disruptions.

The 1993 “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, enacted under
former President Bill Clinton, allows gay men and lesbians to
serve in the military only if they don’t reveal their sexual
orientation and it isn’t otherwise disclosed.

“Our Defense Department supports repealing ‘don’t ask,
don’t tell’ as a way to build our all-volunteer armed forces,”
Reid said in a statement. “We need to repeal this
discriminatory policy so that any American who wants to defend
our country can do so.”